


Eliminated

by jaradel



Series: Check Please Tumblr Ficlets [6]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff with Feels, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 10:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7614922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaradel/pseuds/jaradel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack finds Bitty on the balcony, small against the backdrop of Providence at night. He’s wearing one of Jack’s sweatshirts, overlarge on his slight frame, and his legs are bare. It’s still too chilly in mid-May for Bitty to be this under-dressed, and even in the dim light from the bedroom, Jack can see him shivering. He moves in behind Bitty, sliding his arms around his shoulders and gently pulling him back against his chest.</p><p>Bitty’s not shivering; he’s crying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eliminated

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after the Capitals fell in the second round of the playoffs to the Penguins. I needed an outlet for my pain so I gave it to Jack and Bitty.
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters belong to [Ngozi](http://ngoziu.tumblr.com), creator of [Check, Please!](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com)
> 
> Originally posted to Tumblr May 11, 2016.
> 
> Many thanks to [tiptoe39](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tiptoe39), [annundriel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/annundriel), [marswithghosts](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cautionzombies), and [pawspaintsnthings](http://pawspaintsnthings.tumblr.com) for their support. <3

Jack finds Bitty on the balcony, small against the backdrop of Providence at night. He’s wearing one of Jack’s sweatshirts, overlarge on his slight frame, and his legs are bare. It’s still too chilly in mid-May for Bitty to be this under-dressed, and even in the dim light from the bedroom, Jack can see him shivering. He moves in behind Bitty, sliding his arms around his shoulders and gently pulling him back against his chest.

Bitty’s not shivering; he’s crying.

Jack drops soft kisses in Bitty’s hair. “I think you’re taking our elimination from the playoffs harder than I am,” he murmurs.

Bitty doesn’t turn around, instead leaning into Jack, swiping the tears from his face with his sleeve. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you said you weren’t expecting to win the Cup this year, but I thought that at least you’d make it to the conference finals. And to lose to the _Pens_ , of all teams.* I just - I just -” Bitty starts crying again, warm tears that land on Jack’s forearms.

Jack turns Bitty around, cradling his head to his chest, as Bitty’s tears dampen his t-shirt. He rubs soothing circles on Bitty’s back, pressing more kisses to his head. He’d be lying if he said that he isn’t frustrated and disappointed in the way the Falconers exited the playoffs. Being down three games to one, and clawing their way back only to lose in overtime in game six is a bitter pill to swallow. He knows that he’ll be spending some of the next few weeks coming to terms with that, as will the rest of the team, but he never realized how much this playoff run meant to Bitty.

“You know what this means, though?” Jack says softly.

Bitty sniffles. “What’s that?”

“It means that I have more time to spend with you this summer. It means that we can stay in bed all day, or go wherever we want, and there are no more practices, no more games. We have an extra month that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Bitty nods against Jack’s chest. He’s no longer crying, but he still feels so small in Jack’s arms, like he’s physically withdrawn into his own body. Jack tightens his arms around him, hoping that Bitty can feel, through that small gesture, how much Jack loves him. He remembers the playoff loss from last year, how he had gone off on his own to process his failure as the captain to lead his team to the championship. How Bitty had somehow known that Jack would do just that, had found him in the loading dock, and held him quietly. He didn’t understand at the time why the icy grip of disappointment and failure had melted away with Bitty’s embrace. Now he tries to do the same for Bitty, to give him the same comfort. He knows that Bitty has a tendency to empathize with other people’s emotions, and in the year that they’ve been dating, Bitty’s been, at times, a conduit for Jack’s own emotional turmoil. Jack will feel the disappointment and frustration, but it’s Bitty who expresses it, who gives it a voice, and somehow that helps Jack work through it. It’s not been an easy year for them, but if anything, the obstacles they faced made them stronger, both individually and as a couple. And then it hits him - this year wasn’t about proving himself as a professional hockey player, or stepping out of his father’s shadow. It was about learning to trust himself again, to like - maybe even love - himself again, and to trust another person with his fragile heart.

“Hey.” Jack slides his hand around to Bitty’s chin, tilting it up. Bitty focuses his large dark eyes on Jack’s, and it takes Jack’s breath away. How did he get so lucky, to find someone who cares this much about him?

“Bits, you are far more important to me than winning a trophy. All my life, hockey was all I cared about. It was the reason for my existence, to continue my father’s legacy. And I still felt like that at Samwell, and then you came along, with your baking and your music, and you distracted me. I resented you for that, at first. You didn’t seem to care about hockey as much as I thought you should. And then we started playing on the same line, and we worked so well together, and we became friends. I learned from you that I can be a hockey player and still enjoy doing things away from hockey. And if for some reason my career ended tomorrow, it would be okay, because you’ve shown me that there is more to life than hockey, and I am more than my father’s son. You helped me realize that it’s enough just to be me. And I’m the luckiest person on earth, because I get to be with you.”

Fresh tears course down Bitty’s cheeks, but he’s smiling, he’s smiling so big and so wide that Jack’s heart feels far too large for his chest. He can’t help but smile back, and then they’re kissing, and it doesn’t matter that they’ve kissed a hundred or a thousand times, because each and every kiss makes Jack’s heart sing. He holds Bitty as close to himself as he can, and Bitty wraps his arms around his waist. They stay like that for a short while, clinging to each other, until the nighttime breeze gives Bitty the shivers. Jack pulls back slightly, pressing a small kiss to the tip of Bitty’s nose.

“Come back inside, _chéri_. Let’s start our summer vacation.”

**Author's Note:**

> French translation:  
> chéri = dear, dear one
> 
> * - This is not a dig at the Penguins. This is a reference to the fact that Bad Bob played for the Pens, and presumably retired from hockey as a Penguin, and beating the Pens in the playoffs would’ve gone a long way to putting some old demons of Jack’s to rest.


End file.
